US Cardinal Raymond Burke pictured in the chapel of his residence at the Vatican in 2012. PHOTO: CNS / PAUL HARING.

Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura Cardinal Raymond Burke will visit Sydney and Melbourne in August.

The American Cardinal arrives on August 26, and during his week-long visit will deliver several public talks and celebrate two Masses.

In Sydney, Cardinal Burke will host a question and answer session at the University of Sydney on August 27, before celebrating Mass in the Extraordinary Form at St Mary’s Cathedral that evening.

On August 30 the Cardinal will deliver the keynote address at the World Congress of Families regional event in Melbourne.

Organiser of the WCF event Babette Francis told The Record it would be the first time Cardinal Burke addresses a WCF event, with his planned talk to be on ‘Natural Law and Conscience: Key to Freedom and to the Integrity of Marriage and the Family’.

“I have long admired him, since when he was Archbishop of St. Louis, Missouri,” Mrs Francis said. “He has been an outstanding supporter of the pro-life cause and of marriage.

“I wrote to him inviting him to come to Australia and co-incidentally he was already coming to speak to the Australian Confraternity of Catholic Clergy and he very kindly agreed to address our WCF event.”

The Cardinal will also celebrate Mass in the Extraordinary Form and confirm a number of young adults at St Aloysius’ Church in Caulfield on August 31.

Cardinal Burke last visited Australia in 2011, when he addressed the Australian Catholic Student’s Association (ACSA) in Sydney.

The 65-year-old was raised to the rank of Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010.

Matthew Biddle is a journalism graduate from Curtin University (2007) who began writing for The Record in 2008. He then furthered his academic repertoire by completing a degree in the liberal arts in 2011. Often mistaken for his identical twin brother, Matthew is a keen AFL follower and a long-time Essendon supporter.